NextGEN

IMO-Singapore Future of Shipping Conference 2022

Event details: The IMO-Singapore Future of Shipping Conference: Decarbonisation will be a hybrid event (in-person attendees and online participants) held on Wednesday, 6 April 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (BST), as part of Singapore Maritime Week 2022.

Participation: The FOSC is open to all interested parties and addressed to maritime administrations, industry professionals, academia and organizations from the maritime community. The events will be conducted in English without interpretation.

Delegates may create an account and register on the platform by following the link: https://avolio.swapcard.com/SMW/2022. 

NextGEN 

The IMO Initial Strategy on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships sets an ambition to reduce total emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050; reduce the carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030; and work towards phasing out GHG emissions from ships. To reach these ambitious decarbonization targets, shipping will need a range of innovations and technologies, including alternative low-and zero-carbon fuels. This will require considerable resources, innovation and cooperation. 

NextGEN (where "GEN" stands for "Green and Efficient Navigation") is a joint initiative between the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), that aims to provide a collaborative global ecosystem of maritime transport decarbonization initiatives and link key stakeholders across the maritime value chain, enabling them to undertake coordinated actions for decarbonizing the sector. This is an important initiative to support the maritime sector's push towards the "next generation" of low and zero-carbon fuels and technologies.

The NextGEN Launch

The NextGEN portal was officially launched during the IMO-UNEP-Norway Zero-and Low-Emission Innovation Forum held from 27 to 29 September 2021. The three-day online global platform aimed at championing innovation to accelerate the maritime sector's transition to a zero-and-low emission future.  The forum provided a platform for sharing and transferring knowledge associated with the shipping industry's transition to decarbonization. The forum also focused on developing countries, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in order to include their shipping communities in this collective challenge.

NextGEN brings stakeholders together to identify the gaps and opportunities for decarbonization in the international shipping community, these include ports, governments, companies, research institutes, to share knowledge on low- and zero-carbon fuels. The NextGEN web portal aims to encourage information-sharing, create critical networks and opportunities for collaboration, and facilitate capacity-building.  

The NextGEN portal already encompasses over 140 projects spanning over 500 partners, 13 fuel types. Regions covered include Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. NextGEN also spotlights global collaborative GHG projects led by IMO that include technical assistance, technology transfer and capacity-building.